


Unconditional

by Hester (hester4418)



Series: Guess Who? [7]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Guess the characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:05:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4008706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet written in response to VAMB's "Guess the Pairing Anniversary Event 2014". The object was to write short stories about any pairing of established characters without mentioning any names, and then for the readers to guess the protagonists. Come and have a try! ;-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unconditional

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Written October/November 2013.
> 
> The correct pairing is listed at the bottom of the story - I've put in some spoiler space, so if you want to guess, don't scroll down too quickly!

They stared at each other, she looking up, he looking down. They'd never spoken, had never met before, and yet they were supposed to be family. Close family. In fact, you couldn't get much closer than that. But for now, they were still strangers.

They had written to each other – faithfully, every month. Her letters had been short; she hadn't known what to tell him, but she'd known she wouldn't get away with not writing. His letters had been long, full of stories about his house and his work, his friends and his family.

Her family.

Their family.

The words had sounded like fairy tales from another world. No matter how hard she had tried to understand, and to picture the people and places he described for her, the words had remained empty.

She'd gone to the holodeck and had asked the computer to recreate his world for her. Then she had visited his home – _their_ home, as he'd called it. She had walked among the people and places, trying to find a connection, something that bound her to him and to them.

She'd come up empty.

She'd grown scared of meeting him.

What if she didn't live up to his expectations? What if those people – his people, her family – didn't like her? What if they didn't want her in their home? There would be nowhere for her to hide.

She had considered talking to someone about her concerns, but it had been hard to decide who to go to. The most obvious choice had been her mother, but she had missed him too much herself, and a conversation about him had often ended with tears.

Neelix had sensed some of her fears and had tried to reassure her. He'd told her about his own family, and how happy he would be if he could meet them again. But that was different – he had _known_ his parents and his siblings; he had memories of them. She didn't have those kinds of memories. She'd only had the letters, and her mother's stories. It hadn't been enough.

Seven had understood her. She also had family members whom she'd never met, and wasn't sure about wanting to meet them. Seven had said that if she didn't want to see him, she wouldn't have to. She wasn't so sure about that; besides, she hadn't wanted to disappoint her mother.

They still eyed each other, both wary of making the first move. Then he suddenly smiled, and got down on one knee.

"I've waited so long to see you," he said, his voice raspy with emotion. "You're beautiful."

She took a tentative step forward. He reached out a hand and she took it, hoping that he would not feel her trembling. Her vision was starting to blur.

He tugged her closer until she was right in front of him, and suddenly she was crying. He hugged her – gently, carefully; not so closely that she couldn't step away if she wanted to.

"Shhh," he said, stroking her long hair. "It's okay."

She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his. "Daddy," she sobbed.

"It's okay," he repeated. "You're home now."

Home. It would be real, this time. The holodeck scenery had looked real, but now… she felt it. This could really become home, if she opened her mind to it.

And as she hugged him back, the people and places he had told her about in his letters coalesced into one bright, beautiful picture of their future.

-==/ The End \==-

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_-==/ Naomi Wildman and her father, Greskrendtregk (and Sam Wildman mentioned in passing) \==-_

_I wanted to write a Naomi story, and since her father gets so little screen time even in fanfic, I decided on this scene. Did you recognize them?_


End file.
